Ukraine's state-run railway company has suspended cooperation with a cargo branch of Russian Railways as part of a wave of sanctions against Russia over its support for separatists in the country’s east.

Ukrzaliznytsya said on September 29 that it "is not handling cargo and [rail] cars operated by Russia's freight railway operator Freight One or its daughter company."

On September 25, Ukraine banned Russian airlines, including Aeroflot, from flying to Ukraine from October 25, prompting Russia to impose similar restrictions on Ukrainian airlines flying in Russian airspace.

Kyiv-Moscow relations are extremely poor due to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March last year and support for pro-Russian separatists in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine's eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

Earlier this month, Kyiv expanded a list of sanctions against Russian companies and individuals, targeting 400 officials and 90 firms.